Crab pots and traps are used both commercially and recreationally to capture crabs and other shellfish. They typically function by luring the target through a “tunnel” and into the pot with some type of bait, and then preventing exit by some means such as a unidirectional gate, also known as a “trigger” mechanism.
One system for trapping crabs is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 2,716,304 to Taylor, which discloses a trap including upper and lower circumferential rings that are separated by a plurality of substantially vertical stays. The stays are fixedly attached to the lower ring, and removably attached to the upper ring using a u-shaped clip portion of each stay to engage a portion of the upper ring. Unfortunately, such u-shaped and similar clip-on stays may be accidentally detached in a variety of circumstances, leading to unwanted collapse of the trap. Furthermore, the clip portions of the stays may be relatively weak, possibly leading to partial collapse of the trap even when the stays do not become accidentally detached.
Another shortcoming of existing crab traps involves the collapsibility of the entry tunnel and unidirectional gate (or trigger) of the trap. In many existing traps, the tunnels and triggers are not configured to collapse smoothly along with other portions of the trap, resulting in possible interference between various parts of the trap and difficulty in collapsing the trap. Some existing traps attempt to coordinate collapse of the tunnel and/or trigger with collapse of the other portions of the trap. For example, the system provided by U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,297 to Buyken discloses a collapsible trap having a curved unidirectional gate, the curvature of which causes it to collapse along with the entry tunnel of the trap. However, the free ends of the gates in such systems are prone to interference by trapped crabs, possibly causing damage to the crabs, allowing crabs to escape, and/or causing unwanted collapse of the trap.
Yet another shortcoming in prior art crab traps relates to the structure of the side netting used in such traps. Typically, this netting includes interwoven horizontal and vertical strands that either are knotted together at their points of intersection, or that slide freely relative to each other in both the horizontal and vertical directions. In practice, each of these configurations can result in unwanted entanglements of the netting with other portions of the trap when the trap is collapsed and reassembled.
In view of the shortcomings in the prior art described above, a need exists for a collapsible crab trap having improved stability when assembled, yet which may be easily collapsed and reassembled in a coordinated manner.